EDIT ON JANUARY 20, 2012: Alright, I just noticed that there was a chapter missing in here... so I added it to the beginning of what was Chapter 4. I don't know how that happened, but it means I've got some maintenance to do. It's also drawn my attention to the fact that it has been FOREVER since I updated with new content, so I promise to get cracking on that ASAP. Sorry for the confusion and lack of new material.

- Lorraine


CHAPTER 3

James opened his mouth to reply but Sirius was first to speak. "Remus isn't Head Boy."

"How do you know?" Came three simultaneous responses. Lily seemed disappointed, James nervous, and Peter confused—as usual.

"Well, he would've told us, wouldn't he? He is our best mate, after all, and that would be big news. It could be really helpful in getting us out of trouble when we get caught for a prank."

James noticed Lily's raised eyebrow and tried to cover for Sirius. "What he meant to say was that it could be really helpful in getting us to quit pranking, to make it easier for Remus…"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Prongs, you think she's going to believe that? After all this time? We haven't changed, and Evans is sharp enough to know when you're lying. At least give her that much credit."

"Thanks, Black. I think. But don't you assume that your flattery will spare you from my wrath as soon as I find you've laid a single toe out of line," said Lily stonily.

"Well, you know what they say about assuming," Sirius responded with a wink.

"Indeed. So are you sure Remus isn't Head Boy? Because it's a general rule of mine not to trust anything a Marauder says—unless that Marauder is Remus, of course. Also, this time, I really hope you're wrong."

Finally able to interject, James spoke quickly: "He's not wrong."

Lily groaned. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," said James, a smile emerging on his nicely curved lips. "Because I'm Head Boy."

After a few seconds of silence, Sirius burst into guffaws. Lily and Peter, not sure whether to stare, unbelieving, at James or to join Sirius, soon opted for the latter.

"Good one, Potter! You, Head Boy? Leader of the Marauders made Head Boy. I guess you are good for a laugh sometimes," said Lily breathlessly.

With his three companions laughing—Sirius was rolling around on the platform at this point—James stood there with a neutral expression on his face, and pulled something from the pocket of his robes. He held it out to Lily, and she gasped.

"You weren't kidding? Oh, Merlin."

When they spied the shining silver badge, Peter and Sirius had become silent. Now Sirius uttered a very loud "WHAT?"

Ignoring him, James spoke to Lily. "I assume that was an 'Oh, Merlin' meaning 'Oh, thank Merlin the devilishly handsome James Potter is the Head Boy to my Head Girl!'?"

"Pah! Sirius can tell you what they say about assumptions. No, it was an 'Oh, Merlin' as in 'Oh, Merlin, Dumbledore has finally lost it.'"

"PRONGS! HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL US ABOUT THIS?" came from below, where Sirius was still lying on the ground.

Still disregarding his mate, James continued. "But Lily, I'll be a fantastic Head Boy! After all, I'm fantastic at everything else I do, right? I see no reason for my streak to end now. You can't deny that I am both lovely and talented."

"Oh, I certainly could deny that, Potter. But I don't have nearly enough time to give you all the evidence against yourself." James' face fell a little, but Lily didn't notice. She was in shock, and she didn't know how she was feeling. She was angry and incredulous about Dumbledore's choice of partner for her—namely her nemesis and tormentor for six years running—and she was now dreading the coming year. There was a small part of her that was amused, because this news could not exactly have brightened James' holiday; but that was a very, very small part of her. As she stood there pondering her fate, she realized that the train had arrived and that students were beginning to load their luggage and board the Hogwarts Express.

She checked her watch and then turned to James, her attitude now brusque. "It's ten o'clock. The train should be leaving in an hour, so we should meet in the Prefects' carriage in half an hour to discuss plans for the first meeting. The Prefects have been instructed to arrive at 10.45 so they—and ourselves—can help the last stragglers on board. Then we patrol on the train until 11.15, at which time the official first meeting will commence. As soon as we finish with that, you can do whatever you like until we reach the station at Hogsmeade."

James had listened to Lily's business talk with as much concentration as he could muster, what with Peter gaping at him from the left and Sirius yelling at him from the right. When she had finished, he addressed her promptly: "See you in 30 minutes then, Lily."

She nodded curtly, a bit surprised that he hadn't attempted any wisecracks, and turned to walk towards the baggage compartment.


Twenty-five minutes later, baggage loaded, Lily Evans could be found furiously pacing the Prefects' compartment, muttering to herself.

"Dumbledore's gone out of his mind! Potter wasn't even a Prefect! Hell, he's a Marauder, that's the antithesis of a Prefect. He'll just use this to get his moronic mates out of trouble, and take away as many points as possible from Slytherin. And he probably won't even come to the meetings! I'll have to patrol by myself. Even if by some miracle Potter does acknowledge his responsibilities this year—fat chance—he doesn't have any time, really, as he's Quidditch Captain. McGonagall will have his head if he doesn't win her the Cup, so she'll just expect me to pick up his slack. And even Dumbledore wants Gryffindor to win! So he won't help." Lily shoved her hands into her hair and yelled at the ceiling. "Gahhh, how could Dumbledore do this to me? How could he do this to Potter?" Lily was so concentrated on her rant that she failed to notice when a certain lanky, bespectacled, jet-haired boy walked into the compartment.

"Never mind us, how could he do this to McGonagall? I bet old Minnie threw a bloody fit when she found out, to the extent that she could do that sort of thing."

Lily had abruptly whirled around when he spoke, and was now looking at him, her cheeks red and hair mussed. James thought she looked ravishing. He was about to tell her so when he thought better of it, choosing to address her more seriously.

"Look, Lily, I know we haven't been on the best of terms…"

"That's an understatement if ever I heard one. And it's Evans to you."

"Yes, well, that's sort of what I've been meaning to speak to you about. Obviously, you don't think this is an ideal pairing, and, frankly, I'm not too chuffed to spend an entire year rooming with someone who wants to eviscerate me. So, I thought maybe we could start over? Be friends—or at least be friendly? Maybe starting by calling each other by our first names?" She didn't seem convinced, so he tried again. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together this year…"

She groaned. "Don't remind me."

"…and I know you're not looking forward to it, but I also know that you're a nice person, and I promise that I'm a decent bloke, so I think we can manage to at least be civil. I promise not to ask you out, if you promise not to hex me. What do you say, Lily?"

Lily stared at him for a long moment, and apparently found him to be sincere. "Alright, Pot—James," she corrected, extending her hand. He took it. "You've got yourself a deal."

He smiled a genuine smile, and clapped his hands together. "Right. So. Prefect meeting. How does that work exactly? Remus has told us about them, but I tend to tune him out, so…"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Basically, we just need to establish a patrol schedule for the first month of school. After that, things change around, since there will be Quidditch practices and club activities. We have a meeting every month, to check in with the Prefects and rearrange schedules if need be. The first month should be the easiest, since there are the least conflicts." Noticing that James still looked confused, Lily realized she'd have to go back to the basics. "Patrols work like this: we make the rounds every night, in pairs, from an hour before curfew to an hour after curfew. There are six Prefects from every house, two from 5th year, two from 6th year, and two from 7th year. This means that there are twenty-four Prefects in total, and two of us. I think it makes the most sense to have everyone patrol one night of every two weeks, and we patrol once a week."

"You're volunteering to spend two hours a week with me? Who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?" James asked cheekily.

Lily blushed and rolled her eyes. "I know it's not the best set-up, but it doesn't seem fair to give others the extra work when we have the most responsibility."

Though he admired her sense of duty and smiled inwardly, externally he complained: "Fair, shmair! You're quite right, we have the most responsibility, and therefore the most power. Didn't you ever watch Spiderboy, or whatever? We get to tell them what to do!"

"You're passing up the opportunity to spend two hours a week with me? Who are you and what have you done with James Potter?" Lily countered, causing James to blush this time. "It's Spiderman, actually, and while we do have the power to boss them around, we also have the decency to take one for the team. Or we should," she finished, glaring at him.

"Right, sorry, okay. So we just get them all to choose a night every two weeks? That doesn't seem so complicated."

"Well, the tricky part is arranging the pairs."

"Why do we have to arrange them? Can't we let them each choose a partner? Or just have them go with their Housemate from their same year?"

"No, that wouldn't work. First of all, that would just increase the sense of House loyalty and therefore House rivalry, and that won't do. Also, we should try to pair the younger Prefects with upperclassmen who have more experience."

"Blimey, that will be complicated. No one will want to work with Snivellus, no matter how much experience he has. He's a dubious git, that one is." Lily tried to scowl at him, but couldn't quite stop one side of her mouth from quirking into a half-smile.

"Indeed," she said, checking her watch. "It's almost 10.45 now, so we should go help students load their bags and then patrol the train. The Prefects know to do the same, and then we'll all meet back here at 11.15."

"Righto, Cap'n Lily!" James saluted, and turned to the door. Lily rolled her eyes at his back, fighting the urge to giggle.